Monday, 23 November 2009

Stir Fried Vegetables

"Trim?" The lady smiles and asks.
"Cut." I smile and answer.
And know exactly what is coming.
She tries to hide the smirk on her face. Tries to keep a straight face and asks "Around half or one inch?".
I smile again and indicate somewhere on my upper arm. And wait, knowing what will come next.

But this lady is patient. Maybe she guesses I don't know even how much an inch is after all.
So she holds the ends of my tresses between her fingers to around an inch and holds them up in front of my nose.
"This much?" I can get that tone in her voice.
"No." I smile back. "This much". I point to my upper arm ... again.

And did not have to wait for long. She gasped. " This much?!!!".
I nod ... still smiling.
She looks horrified. "But how can you cut such long hair?! Girls would happily die to have such long hair!".
I did not have the inclination to tell her that beautiful tresses won't be of much use if you are already dead.

So I hold my tongue. And assure her they grow back very fast. She had nothing to worry ... I'll be back to meet her in three months again.
She still looked unsure. And I prayed.

I prayed that someday this ordeal will come to an end. Both for me and for those nice souls who feel so guilty everytime they have to chop off my long hair.

But that is the story. I have tried visiting different places where I might find people who would happily chop of my hair without feeling scandalised or as if I am asking them to cut my head instead of my hair.

I have even tried to befriend the Chinese lady D in our society ... invited her and her dog over to tea ... ok ... I invited her and she got the dog.

Hasn't helped. Only made her more caring after that.

And I so miss our childhood no nonsense barber who used to come over to our house. After Dadu ( grandad ) and all my uncles would get their job done, it was the turn of a long line of squirming, giggling and jostling grandchildren ... most of them girls.

Moina, the barber, would bring out his special big sized scissors that he kept for us, babu ghoro chua ( children of the big house ). He couldn't tackle the straight & adamant thick tresses of us kids otherwise. After snipping the scissors menacingly in the air a couple of times, he would reach out to grab one child after the other by the scruff and snip off in no time.

Which made me ask the other half sometime back " Will you take me to your barber the next time you go for a haircut?".
And have recently noticed that he has been getting his haircut on his way back from the office. Sigh! :-(

My recipe today is a simple stir fry of vegetables. I do not like to eat cold salads for a few reasons. The first being I do not like to eat anything cold. Food has to be piping hot for me when served.

Secondly, I do not like boiled vegetables ... so steaming or boiling and then munching on flavourless stuff is not for me.

And to make them tasty I have go overboard and dunk in bottled dressings that is best not eaten regularly.

So I stir fry. Just throw in the veggies of my choice in a little oil and toss them around. And use whatever flavour of seasoning fancies me. And love to much on the steaming hot yet crunchy veggies. :-)

This stir fry has no special seasoning except freshly ground black pepper. And instead of lemon juice or vinegar, I have thrown in some fresh tomatoes ... they gave whatever little tang was needed.

So dear Rush, here's your stir fry. :-)

Need : Vegetables of your choice cut into smallish cubes .... just make sure they are of the same size for uniform cooking,
finely chopped garlic, onion cut into big cubes ( check out the snaps for the exact sizes ),
freshly ground black pepper,
a little cooking oil ( olive or vegetable oil ) , salt and sugar to taste.

You can use butter if you want to ... it makes the dish wonderfully flavourful.

How to : Heat a little oil in a non stick or heavy bottomed pan. On low heat add the garlic. Wait for a while ... do not fry for long.

Increase heat and add the onions and the rest of the vegetables. Keep tossing and stirring on high heat.

Add salt and sugar and keep tossing ... they will cook in their own juices.

If you want to you can cover it for a while .... just make sure you lower the heat .... and the veggies don't turn soggy or burn.

Sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.

This makes a great meal as is. Or you can combine it with some bread and soup too.

I served it with some fried chicken meatballs on the side ( I made them for the next recipe coming up ).

lovely pictures of a great stirfry...i don't need anything with it.and you hair...EVCO ( which you make so painstakingly) nourished hair...why do you cut them, why not trim...yes here is another scandalized lady..:) lols on the huge scissors of that childhood barber...:)

Sharmila I am another scandalized lady in the row. why do you chop off the hair? does it grow very fast? I used to have long thick tresses but after the baby the volume has reduced to 1/3... am envying you right now.the stir fry is good. I love to mix thin stripes of paneer in it. lovely colourful dish and love the new black layout too.

Sharmila,I couldn't stop smiling reading the first half :)....trim korbe hair khob sukher jinish..after my daughter was born I lost way too many of them ..save it for future :)....and look at those so colourful veggies ..who would say no to it,hain?.hugs and smiles

LOL...sharmila, at the start and a couple of lines I thought u were narrating the conversation btn u and ur house help ;) lol neways enjoyed the read as always :) aiyo u have such lovely long cascading hair pls. dont cut it.. I really admire ur profile snap..damn good, I really can understand how the parlour females feel at the thought of cutting it :)neways I love stir fried veggies though its occassional at home( read only when alarmed ;)) ur pics make me want some now...

i was just gonna ask, are those manchu balls? i love the stir fry u had done, will try it today and let u know.(((big bear hugs))) on making the stir fry....it looks absolutely delish and so mouthwatering...high open flame stir fry!! this cold snowy day, i am trying this out riteaway!!

Sharmila, ami jodi shamne thaktam tumi jokhon chul katchile ami bhnyaaa kore knede ditam ;-) Prarthana's (DD1) hair is almost till her waist, she has been growing it for the past 3 years. I never could have long hair, as I just don't have that material :-) amar ichey puro kori through her.

Ha ha! I can imagine that one. I had a similar problem two times when my hair was knee length and I wanted it chopped off to shoulder level! I was determined and got it done:). She said it would make a great bun!

I too make such stir fries. They are quick and easy and tasty. What is that thing near the stir fry? Looks tastier and more appealing!

Thanks Bharti! No we don't have locksoflove here ... and I have never enquired about donation ... but I do know most hairdressing parlours use up or sell good tresses ... so maybe mine are not going waste after all. :-)